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SWAAAE: Airport News, "Schiphol's Cerfontaine says sale of current site could finance new airport"
May 17, 1999
Schiphol's Cerfontaine says sale of current site could finance new airport
Agence France Press/Financial Times
AMSTERDAM, AFX: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol NV director Gerlach Cerfontaine
said the sale of the airport's current site could finance the construction
of a new offshore airport twice the size of the existing one.
In an interview with Het Financieele Dagblad, Cerfontaine said the new
airport would have to be built on an island of 5,000-7,000 hectares, about
twice the size of the current airport. He declined to reveal the latest cost
estimate for what would be the world's biggest-ever civil construction
project, but outdated government estimates put the cost at 22 bln usd.
The report noted that Hong Kong's new airport cost 20 bln usd to build and
the new Schiphol would be at least four times bigger and would be located in
the open sea rather than in a protected bay.
Schiphol's current site is 3,500 hectares in a prime location and would be
suitable for redevelopment into new homes, offices and open green spaces,
the paper said.
It is difficult to put a price tag on the value of the Schiphol land, the
paper said, citing a broker as saying that while property in the area is
very expensive at the moment, a glut of land could cause price to drop and
all will depend on how the area is developed if it is no longer used as an
airport.
Cerfontaine said the top priority at the moment is to privatise the airport
as "being a state-owned enterprise is a handicap. We see alliances with
other airports as our future. We would like to take part in the
privatisation of Milan and Rome airports. But because we are state-owned,
our stake in either of the Italian airports would be limited to 2 per cent."
Cerfontaine expects 15 pct of all airports to be privatised in five years'
time, compared with 5 pct currently. He said investment banks are
approaching the Schiphol airport authority with plans for the privatisation.
"We want to become a listed company. Airports are very attractive
investments right now and there are not many of them about," he said.
1999, Agence France Press/Financial Times
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